Frank, Iggy and the Cast of Thousands

Iggy’s blog riles against Absolute and the fiasco in the wings that online poker has staring it in its face. Of course it’d have been better if it hadn’t started out with a replacement for Jim Garrison being quoted. But, the topic is a dieing one that deserves legs and I invite other to join the witch hunt.

Frank Frisina is one of the community that Iggy and I class as a friend and he’s not letting it die either. You can see his cartoon here. It asked unanswered questions that just keeps hanging out there. And be sure to click his link about their ugly stepchild Ultimate Bet.

Iggy thinks the PPA should be all over this. I don’t think that is correct or maybe quite correct. They could do some press releases and lay all this at the feet of the UIGEA. Seems a no-brainer at first look. But, a solid press release placed in media hands can backfire. Do they use the corruption and concealement to show that the UIGEA was a mistake or do they use it to further enhance the view that gambling and poker are a corruption that should not be allowed in a sensitive society? I fear the latter. That’s the track record. What the PPA should be doing is what the NRA does so well. Send out news to the members with nice documentation asking they contact their legislatures. The idea is to turn the issue in to a vote controlling one that will impact the ballot box. They can only win with fear of their voting block.

But, lets get back on topic. We’ve a mess that keeps getting swept under the carpet. Kahnakake and Absolute et al are private entities. Their fiduciary responsibilities aren’t to the players. They are in a position to provide lipservice and nothing else and they seem to be doing a great job of it. Business talks about too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Well, it would seem this issue has too many Grand Chiefs and too many Indians. They all seem capable of hiding behind a tree with scalping knives out.

What brought the Absolute mess out into the open was not stalwart investigation coupled to eagle eyed observation. It started off with complete denial. If the Excel spreadsheet hadn’t leaked, we’d be staring at the continued denial. That spreadsheet had information that we as players don’t get to see. It allowed the rotten bits to float to daylight. We are afterwards told this is an isolated instance. Maybe. But when you look at the pots in tournaments and big ring games, you are seeing numbers that are going to attract the undesirables. It has been ever such. Yet we only see young idiots exposed. People easy to hang out to dry. I watched what I suspected as chip dumping at a 30-60 table yesterday but there is no way to confirm that without confirmation. I went looking for one of the names and, lo and behold, there was a several year old thread including that name in a Chinese ring being argued over on Two Plus Two. Three years go by and I have the same thought that they had then – independent from the views being espoused there. (Google reference: Changle poker)

Iggy calls for a boycott of Absolute, Ultimate Bet, and Kahnawake. Well, two out of three is possible. There is no way a U.S. Player can seriously boycott servers that provide the server farm for out top sites; that is Kahnawake and they know it.

Lets face it folks! We are fat, dumb and happy patsies. In our defense there isn’t a lot we can do about it. Voting with our feet has limited capacity. The UIGEA has made our hopes more remote than ever that we can get an audited and fair game. There are overseas sites that had and continue to have audited operations. They may not resolve everything but there is a chance. All we have going is blind faith.

The Brits are doing a far better job of protecting players. It ain’t perfect but its the best game not in our town.

ADDENDUM:

Sites are expensive propositions. Bandwidth isn’t free. A server farm is a cash pit. Software has a constant cost associated with it that never stops sucking blood. But, with all that, having an online site is as good as a license to print money.

With the UIGEA happening, the sites have become even more penurious. The competition forced sites to give a bit back. That’s always a bit more than they’d like. They got off the hook when the UIGEA hit. We seem to scramble for sites these days rather than see the sites scramble for us.

I noticed that the other day. On FullTilt they are as cheap as most of the rest. But, I’ve at least got a bit of clothing and whatever off them over the months in the cheap seats. I am doing that now on Stars. I’m playing about as regularly as I did on Tilt. No bonus to clear there so that about 30+ a month I don’t see. As to their FPPs, well… that is a joke. I’m not even half way toward a crumby baseball cap. The stuff all the sites used to fill their drop-ins ditty bags is now more precious than gold it would seem.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 6:33 am and is filed under Pols and other Crooks. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.